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New Zealand earthquake...

All ok here, it woke us up and was clearly big since it went for a long time, but for us it was rolling and long rather than violent so no damage.

How is your family @MrB? @MrB is likely to have had it stronger than ourselves, if you're praying about this keep them in mind. I'll post if I hear anything from them.

To put this in context for readers, note that only two deaths have been reported, and not from near where any of us live, so they'll all be alive. The main concern is property damage, and possibly minor injuries. (Edit: And people's state of mind. My male mind didn't think of that, but Sarah, who's been awake a lot seeing how all her female friends are panicking on Facebook, reminded me that the psychological is as important as the physical!)
 
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Wellington has been shaken quite a bit - and is STILL shaking - with damage to some buildings and the harbour. Offices and schools are closed, but no injuries reported. Just shaken nerves after a wakeful night of drop, cover and hold! :)
 
Thanks for asking about us Kiwis! For us it wasn't so bad, but for others it is hard, especially those that have been through several large earthquakes already. The aftershocks are concerning as they're large and not always centred where the original earthquake was, but are further up along the same fault line. There are a huge range of places where they are hitting, many further up in the North Island.
This photo is very concerning. This is the main road going up the East Coast of the South Island. It is the road that the train goes along (you can just see the train tunnel in the bottom left of the picture before the landslide), and the road for all trucks carrying goods. The only other option for anyone to get to the top of the South Island and then to the North Island is by going over to the West Coast which is a 3 hour drive across the island, then another 3 hour drive back, minimum. The only other way to get to the North Island is to fly. It will take a very long time just to clear this landslide, and there are many other pictures of broken roads in the same area. So a lot of business is going to stop or be extremely difficult for possibly months.
The tsunami risk is still high right now, and there is a super moon which was already predicted to create king tides before this happened. Ferries from the South to North Island have been cancelled for the moment, not that anyone can get to them right now anyway.
earthquake.jpg
 
Remember it's the largest supermoon in 70 years right now, ie the moon is closer to the earth than it has been since 1948. So the gravitational pull will be higher than usual, and this pulls on the crust as well as the seas, so as well as creating the tides it could easily affect earthquakes.
Now look at this chart for the moon rise & set times for NZ in Blenheim, near the earthquake epicentre.
The moon rose at 6:30pm last night, was directly overhead at 12:11am this morning, then set at 5:45am.
The earthquake was at 12:02am, just as the moon's gravitational pull approached its maximum.
Now that seems far too close to be coincidental. It's very interesting.

Next pass is 1:10am tomorrow morning, and the moon will be at it's maximum illumination tomorrow night, ie more aligned with the sun. The predicted tide heights are still rising and won't peak until Wednesday or Thursday. Hopefully though everything that was likely to shift has already done so!

Of course others have already looked into the moon/earth link statistically based on historical data and dismissed it. But it still seems very interesting.
 
Hi all
We are are all fine. No damage from the earthquakes found as yet , it's raining now and motivation is low to get out and check everything in a thorough fashion. The important things are ok.
There is a very small amount of damage around town in Nelson. Things fallen off shelves small cracks here and there, It seems largely cosmetic at this stage...time will tell.
Our not yet two year old has done more damage in our home in the last week than the earthquake...lol
Although I will say last night I was a bit concernd for an hour or so.

I would be supprised if they open the east coast road in the near future as the damage is not an easy fix.

Good to hear you and family are all ok Samuel . I was concerned it may have been a bit rough down there.

Bless you all
R
 
There needs to be. I have had good intentions for too long without action, partly because we were thinking too big and considering east coast Australia as an Australasian retreat, rather than just focussing on NZ. Sarah and I have been discussing how best to do a NZ retreat, we were going to arrange something last summer but were too busy with a new baby. We're keen to actually do it this summer, and have options for locations also. Watch this space (and nag me if you see nothing in it!).
 
Hmmm. For S&G, I checked on a mid/late July flight from LAX to WLG (via NAN). $1200USD and ~18 hours. prices go up quick over $2000USD for different flight configurations. I really like Google Flight. Helps a lot.

EDIT: from DFW to WLG is $1900 - $2400; from CMH is $2100 - $2600
 
If people would find this a good excuse to go on a holiday to New Zealand, then we really do need to do it!

Note that summer means January or February. July is winter. But you'd be most welcome to visit in July, we'd love to have you! Look at flights to CHC also. What is S&G?
 
Wow, I continue to learn from reading on BF - even the meaning of S&G! :p
With learning in mind, thanks to the Admin for letting us males read the women only posts. I've learnt some good lessons about how females/wives think. This is very helpful and particularly at the moment. Blessings.
 
He means the "ladies only" section, which is as public as the "gentlemen only" section. We just don't tend to use that one as much, we tend to take over the entire forum, so the ladies retreat to "ladies only" to get away from us.
And Zec, you clearly read them, since you just commented on the women's retreat thread in the ladies only section. Naughty naughty... :)
 
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